Illusions
by Caramel23
Summary: After a string of unusual attacks Jump City panics & begins 2 fear that not even the Teen Titans can save them. Obsessed w/ his newest threat Robin is pulled deep in2 the dark world of illusions w/ the most unexpected savior coming 2 pull him out.
1. Cases

Previously posted this story. I edited it, made a few minor changes. Still the same basic elements, just a few tweaks and grammar fixes.

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><p><em><strong>Illusions <strong>_

The night was quiet; the streets empty except for the group of teen heroes responding to a silent alert at a 24 hour gas station. They arrived moments later at the building. All the lights were off making the station appear abandoned. They entered quietly not wanting to scare the criminal into doing something dangerous.

"It's empty." BeastBoy announced after a moment of scanning the room.

"Well, let's check search around anyway." Robin said. "Raven, Go check behind the counter and in the storage. Beastboy and Cyborg go around the back and search there. Star, search the nearby streets for anything out of the ordinary." They separated and quickly covered the small area of the store finding nothing.

BeastBoy wandered outside, "Maybe someone tripped the alarm on accident." He stopped and sniffed the air, his dog nose detecting something. Morphing back to a human he walked to the back of the dumpster. Moving boxes and trash bags he found a woman cowering in a ball.

"I found the counter lady." He shouted back. He smiled at the woman and held out a hand. "Hey, we're here to help you. Did you set off the alarm?" The woman let out a short, crisp noise. "Lady, c'mon it's safe now." She made the same noise again, louder and longer than before. Beastboy frowned, confused at the reaction. "What's wrong—."

Cyborg came up behind him and flashed the light on her. They both drew back shocked. The woman looked straight ahead, her eyes crazed and a strange twisted grin spread across her face. Her hands fluttered nervously around her throat. The rest of the team arrived behind them.

"Whoa."

Robin carefully approached her. He flashed his light in the woman's eyes but she didn't respond. He reached out for her hands but besides a short shriek she didn't react to his touch at all. "We've got to get her some help."

Moments later she was in the back of an ambulance, her hands still anxiously moving around her throat. The Chief of Police stared after it, shaking his head and drawing heavily on his cigarette. The vehicle disappeared around a corner, its sirens interrupting the night. "Damn shame."

"Please, keep us updated on her well being." Starfire asked quietly. Her innocent green eyes were brimmed with tears as if it were her own family that had been taken away. Robin stared at her, amazed that she had so many emotions and felt them so strongly.

The Chief gave them a brisk nod before walking off, barking orders between puffs of his cigarette. With nothing else to do the Titans went home.

**Two weeks Later**

The alarm blared throughout the Titans Tower. The teens immediately dropped everything and rushed to the scene.

"Cyborg?"

Their earpieces went off simultaneously. "We're responding to a distress call in a library." Cyborg informed them.

"A library?" commented Beastboy. "Who robs a freaking library?"

They arrived shortly to a scene of panicked people. The people pooled out of the double doors and stood around frightened but seemingly unsure about why they were panicking. The Titans pushed their way through the crowd and rushed inside, the library dark and ominous. The team split up on instinct throughout the selves but Robin stayed by the door listening. He picked up a faint sound. Almost as if someone was laughing. He walked to the checkout counter and hopped over it. In the corner was a man giggling hysterically, his glasses cracked and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Sir?"

"Um…Robin." Raven's voice came in through his ear piece. "You should look at this."

"Not now. I found someone." He replied.

"Yea, so have I. And she doesn't look too well."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked. He flashed his light in the man's eyes and got no reaction. Robin checked the man's pulse that was beating rapidly under his skin. The whole time the man just continued to laugh, unaware of Robins presence.

"She's crying and doesn't even acknowledge me and Beastboy are here. She's…gone mad I think." Raven said slowly.

A memory of the gas station clerk that they had found two weeks ago came sharply to Robin's mind. An uneasy feeling settled over him. "Get her to some medical help and take the man I found too. Question anyone who might have answers. Cyborg you go over the security tapes. We need to find out what's going on."

Hours ticked by before the Titans left, frustrated at having accomplished nothing. All they were able to gather were security tapes that were mysteriously stripped and nonsense stories from witnesses who only "thought" they say this.

"This is freaky." Beastboy said darting straight to the videogame he had paused before they left.

Robin stepped through the Titan doors and scowled. "It just isn't making sense." He said walking towards the hallway. "I suggest you guys get some rest instead of play games."

Cyborg shrugged and plopped down next to Beastboy. "Ah, we will."

Starfire smiled and gently laid a hand on Robins shoulder as she glided by him towards her own bedroom. Raven grabbed his arm. Robin easily slid out her grasp.

"Whatever's going on is going to get worst." Raven said, her voice expressionless. "But don't get hung up on it just yet Robin. I know you will."

Robin didn't reply. Instead he walked away, leaving the sorceress staring after him in the hall way.

**Three Days Later**

Robin sat watching Cyborg and Beastboy play the newest version of a race car game. Just as Beastboy sent his zippy red car careening into Cyborgs over sized monster truck the screen cut off, flashing to an attractive woman in a white lab coat with her hair neatly tucked into a bun.

"Hey!" Beastboy yelled throwing his controller on the couch. "I was just about to win!"

"Titans, sorry for the intrusion, but this is of the utmost importance."

The rest of the teen hero's gathered around the screen ignoring Beastboy mumbling how rude civilian organizations were these days.

"What it so important?" Robin asked.

"In the past month there has been an alarming situation arising. I'm afraid it seems the situation is getting out of our control…" She paused and seemed to think something through for a moment before continuing. "Three of the eight victims you've dealt with personally."

"…you mean the ones that went mad? It there are eight then why do we only know about three?" Robin snapped.

"Our most sincere apologies, Titans. The police figured since most victims were minor calls; found on the street, in their homes, etc, there was no need to worry you guys. There were no robberies, vandalism, nothing of that sort. The police thought to leave you to the bigger crimes and assumed these cases wouldn't be too much to handle."

Raven scoffed. "And we're assuming it wasn't as simple as they believed?"

"Correct. The trail is always a dead end if there even is one and there are no solid clues leading to explanations. And the occurrence of this crime is rising. Our concern grew significantly when a victim was declared dead."

"Dead?" Robin repeated.

"Grace Ostens, twenty four, time of death three o'clock am. She committed suicide actually. Two more victims have been reported at attempting suicide also but luckily they failed. This case is getting out of hand. News is leaking out into the media and Jump City is becoming anxious. We're asking for your help."

Robin paced the floor his anger showing clearly on his face. "You guys purposely withheld this information from us? It wasn't a matter of priority; the cops just wanted something to do!"

"Robin please, the Chief is taking it pretty hard on himself already and the department realized that the course of action picked wasn't the best but—" She paused and turned around for a moment, seemingly reading something. She read it quickly with a grim expression.

"Tell us." Robin snapped, his voice commanding.

She bit her lip. "I really shouldn't tell this one actually but considering our conversation just now… it seems you get a hands on jump back into the case. Down at the City Park."

Glaring at the woman Robin left with the other Titans following close behind. They arrived at the park, Robin skidding to a stop on his motorcycle right before hitting the caution tape. He pulled his helment of and ducked under the tape but was cut off by the Chief.

"Robin."

He narrowed his masked eyes but remained silent.

"Please, I know we should have told you. This is your city to protect as well after all but I had my reasons." He looked at the group. "But…" he twitched his cigarette nervously between his fingers.

"I have to ask that this specific guy you leave to us."

"What? Seriously? What is up with you people and being stingy with your info!" Cyborg bellowed.

Robin was already scanning the area. He noticed shreds of clothing and a path that looked like something, or someone, had been dragged through it leading to the public restrooms. The thought came before he fully even realized what it was.

"He's dead." Robin stated.

The chief cleared his throat. "This one was more brutal than the others. We can't be sure it's even connected but several people claim to have seen him go mad right before. A man had to drag him to the bathroom and lock him in there so he wouldn't hurt anyone it seems. A good Samaritan I suppose.

Although you guys have helped us in many cases and proven yourselves to be very mature you're still just…kids. Teenagers. But this- I'm fairly sure you've never experienced something quite so…dark."

"He's just dead." Raven said emotionlessly.

"I want to see." Robin said. "If we're going to help we need _all _the information."

The Chief took a long drawl of his cigarette letting the smoke drift effortlessly back into the air. "This isn't kiddy robberies or world domination. You guys are used to dealing with third party things. Stuff most civilians don't even realize is going on and as it turns out, you haven't had the chance to see how it affects people because of this. You don't get to see the personal agony because people don't even know it's happening. These are real lives being influenced to _end_. Even the ones who haven't committed suicide have no chance of being anything but asylum patients, tortured by whatever went wrong until age claims them. If you pick this case up, you have to deal with the emotions, including the case and the repercussions it has on everything outside of it."

"I can handle it." Robin said, a brief flashback of his parents coming to play. "But I'll understand if my team wants to stay behind."

"No way!" Cyborg said immediately. "You're not leaving me behind."

"Us either!" Declared Beastboy and Raven.

Robin looked at Starfire who smiled back at him. Part of him wanted her to stay. Wished she'd softly ask to be omitted and go home. He had the urge to hide her from whatever they were about to face, afraid it might change her. Twist her optimistic outlook on life into the harsh reality that it was. But he knew she wouldn't stay behind either, and to ask her would be pointless and unfair to the rest of his team.

"You guys don't know what you're getting into. This kinda case can only get darker." The Chief warned but he stepped aside.

They went to the restroom, following the trail and taking note of the apparent struggle. Things seemed to go in slow motion as Robin opened the door, pushing on the heavy metal that was beginning to rust from lack of maintenance. A strange odor rushed to greet them.

Starfire let out a barely audible cry before turning around. Beastboy made a choking noise covering his nose and going to console Starfire who had retreated to a nearby tree. Cyborg and Raven stood there gaping. Robin seemed to take in all the details at once before it came together quickly, knocking the breath out of him. His head began to spin, rapidly collecting all the information and crowding it into his mind but his face remained stoic. He appeared empty, a very strange reaction to the carnage before them.


	2. Carnage

**Chapter 2: Carnage**

Of course they had seen death. Being who they were it was an inevitable experience. But it was never like this. The deaths were always clean and almost peaceful (or at least resolved). Sometimes it wasn't even death, just a cease of existence. There was never too much gore or tragedy. There was never anything like this. This something on a completely different level.

"I warned you." The Chief commented quietly as he approached behind them.

Cyborg cleared his throat before clumsily moving out towards the field with Star and Beastboy. Raven stared for a few seconds before leaving, her face taking back to its usual bored expression though there was a flicker of hidden emotion in her purple eyes.

Robin took a deep breath. "There are two men in here." He noted.

"Yea. The one against the wall was the guy who dragged this dude-" he nodded towards the other body, "in here. He never made it out."

"How could this have happened?" Robin asked. The floor was mixed with blood and dirty water. The man against the wall appeared to be melted away, blood oozing from his body. His head was whipped back sharply, his mouth wide open in a permanent scream with eyes bulging out. The other man was hardly put together; both his arm and leg thrown in different pieces throughout the small bathroom. His body also had a melted away look with blood pooling out. The one arm and limb that still hung on by a few flaps of skin were curled as if they had dried up. Worst was his face which had a wide crazed grin, bearing white gleaming teeth. His bulged out eyes had blood running out of them, making it appear as if he were crying.

"Well we found a vile of some type of chemical. Still working on figuring out exactly what it is but I'll tell you right now it's not something you find in your local store. It's explosive, but only reacts to something in the human body we presume. Judging from the size of the bottle, it only takes a relatively small amount to get the results you see now." The Chief said.

"So he just came in here and poisoned himself and some random guy?"

"Not quite that simple. See his clothing?"

Robin looked at the man with missing limbs and saw that the shreds of cloths appeared to be extremely short basketball shorts and nothing else.

"We have reason to believe he didn't carry it here with him. Seems unlikely that he'd be strolling around with something like that in his hand, you know? The vile must have already been here. Plus he was still in his right mind a few minutes before it happened. Not the type of guy to do this? Just a simple man taking an afternoon jog. He snapped, somehow got this poor sap to take a sip before downing some himself, and boom."

"I think it's connected to the other cases. Whoever's doing this is becoming more sadistic." Robin said leaving the restroom. He didn't feel the need to takes pictures and go through the usual evidence routine. He was sure the scene was saved in perfect detail and embedded in his memory.

"This is a lot to take on. And don't forget you have other responsibilities as well. Are you sure you're still up to this? We could use your help but this is an exceptional case. If you feel it'd be best to keep the Titans out…" the Chief flicked some ashes into the wind and held up the caution tape for Robin.

The rest of the team was spread out and doing odd jobs for the police. Robin felt torn between wanting to get involved and guarding his team. Something in him itched to find out what was going on and bring it to a stop. But he also felt he had an obligation to keep his team safe, shielded. Just like the Chief had said, they were only teens and they already had their own personal demons. He didn't want to add this. After a moment of contemplating he spoke again.

"I'll help, but any information you have I want to receive it first and I'll relay it to the Titans."

The Chief nodded. He knew what Robin was thinking. It was exactly what he had in mind when he had withheld information from the Teen Titans. If he could regulate what was told perhaps he could protect them. It obviously didn't work for him but despite his failed efforts it was different in Robin's case. With nothing else to say he left Robin alone.

Robin stood there for a moment, the image still vivid in his thoughts. After a while he sighed and walked over to his team that had gathered around Cyborg's car. "You guy's okay?" he asked.

"That was intense." said Cyborg.

"I wasn't ready for that dude." Beastboy threw in.

Raven stayed indifferent but glanced at Star who was sniffling.

"We've never had to deal with something like this, but the police have. I think its best that we offer our help but stay on the back burner okay?" Robin looked at his team and gave them a smile that he hoped didn't look forced. "I'll get info from the station and update you. How about you guys go home and rest up a little?"

Raven raised an eyebrow and looked at Robin with an "I know what you're up to" look but didn't say anything. The Titans nodded warily and left to go home.

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><p>The room was dark besides a dim table light casting a yellow glow on a mixture of news paper clippings, pictures, and notebooks. Robin sat on his bed, his hand covering his face and tangling in his unspiked hair. He tried to organize the maze of dead end clues and stories but instead his mind gave up and focused on the drumming of the rain.<p>

He was tired, stressed, and had become withdrawn. His team worried but said nothing. He knew they were afraid for him, but oblivious about his involvement with the case they assumed it was a new obsession with Slade. He didn't mind that. The Chief had been right. The Sanity Epidemic, as it was now being called, had only gotten darker and more violent. In the past month and a half the victims doubled and more of them were becoming suicidal and succeeding.

Glancing quickly at the clock he grabbed his shirt, pulled it over his head and went to leave. The other Titans had dispersed and went to the security of their own bedrooms allowing Robin to leave undisturbed and unquestioned.

The rain didn't bother him at all even despite being cold and mingling with the wind rushing by him. It relaxed him slightly and after a while and he didn't feel himself gripping onto the handles as tight though he was still doing well above the speed limit. He came to a stop in front of the Chief's house and knocked on the door. After a few minutes Robin knocked again a little harder than intended. The Chief came to the door yawning and scratching his bare stomach that had grown over the years.

"What the hell are you banging on my door for? Shouldn't you be home kid?" he asked. He stared at Robin for a minute before frowning and sighing. From inside the house a woman's voice was shouting, asking who was at the door at this time of night.

"One sec." The Chief disappeared inside the house shouting something back at his wife before coming out again with a cigarette and robe on. He sat on the patio step keeping clear of the rain. "It's a dreary night. Kind of night that births gouls and ghosts." He lit his cigarette and watched it burn for a moment. Robin sat beside him, his bangs dripping cold water down his cheeks.

"I can't figure it out." Robin said. "There's nothing that makes sense. People are going mad on my streets and dying and there's nothing I can do."

The Chief just stared out at the rain and smoked. It was a couple of minutes before he spoke. "We should visit the patients." He turned to Robin. "We haven't even taken the time to see the victims; that might or might not help."

"I thought you've seen them." Robin answered.

"I've glanced at them, had a few words but nothing was coherent. Left the interviews to my subordinates. Maybe we'd find out something." The Chief blew out smoke that blended into the night.

"So hang out with the people I failed? I don't think—" The Chief cut Robin off.

"Look kid, you're in the case. Cut the self pity. It ain't going to help you sleep at night. The standard police fingerprints and witness approach isn't working worth a damn. We have to try some different angle's; get in _deep_. Now as a cop I got rules and regulations to follow. I can only do so much without having to fill out tons of paper work and requesting permission from the higher ups. All that would take too long. I need someone to get me the dirty info that's bound to pop up sooner or later. We start by getting to know the victims, before and after." The Chief flicked his stub of a cigarette in the rain.

"You've been thinking about this for a while."

The Chief nodded. "It's a lot to ask, but I'm assuming you're willing to do it for me." He said. "Meet me here tomorrow at ten."

Robin nodded and stood up. The Chief took out another cigarette and lit it.

"One day you're going to realize how bad smoking is. Especially a heavy smoker like you." Robin said dryly.

"You're like my wife." The Chief smiled and inhaled, leaning back relaxed. "Until the day my lungs burst I'll keep on doing it."

Smirking Robin stepped back into the rain and went home.


	3. Visitations

**Chapter 3: Visitation**

Robin sent the Titans out to a distress call from a bank. It appeared one of their local villains was searching for an early payday yet again with the assistance of small explosives. When Robin announced he was behind his team didn't question him, having become accustomed to him leaving Cyborg in charge in his place.

At ten Robin and the Chief met and drove over to the Asylum tucked discreetly away a few miles outside of the city. They checked in with the office and were led to the underground floor. The hall was the stereotypical white linoleum, with overly bright blue lights every few feet, lighting up patches of hall and leaving the others in darkness. The glass windows showed the patients going about, either eerily quiet or screaming bloody murder. The Chief and Robin made no comment as the nurse led them to the first patient they were to interview.

"Now this one has been deemed nonviolent but out patients can be unpredictable so I advise caution." The nurse said, pausing in front of the door. They could see the man sitting quietly at a desk, playing with his fingers. "There is to be no physical contact, please do not supply the patient with anything, your weapons have already been confiscated but if there is anything we missed—" She glared at Robin. "I suggest you give it up now." She smiled at the Chief. "Anything weapons or questions?"

Robin frowned annoyed. "No." he lied. His knife stayed safely hidden on the inside of his sleeve and he refused to give it up, wary of going anywhere completely unarmed.

The nurse frowned back but turned to unlock the door. "Twenty minutes."

She stood aside as they entered and locked the door behind them.

"Mr. Paice?" The Chief said.

The man at the table didn't respond. His head stayed down, focused on his twiddling fingers.

"Mr. Paice." The Chief tried again.

This time the man turned to them, a thin smile plastered on his lips. "Ah! Welcome dear, welcome."

The Chief forced a smile. "Hi there. We had a few questions for you."

The man nodded. "Of course, please take a seat at the dining room table and we can chat as soon as I'm done here." He motioned for them to sit. The room however was empty except for the desk and chair he occupied and bed that was fastened to the padded wall. "It'll be just a moment."

The Chief looked at Robin and shrugged. "Thank you but we'll stand."

Mr. Paice nodded. "Suit yourselves but please move from the front door and come into the living room. My daughter will be coming in soon."

They took a step forward and the man nodded pleased. "How have you been?" Robin asked.

The man shrugged.

"We're here to talk to you about some recent events Mr. Paice. To see if you remember anything." Robin continued.

Mr. Paice nodded again. "Yes, of course, of course. About my daughter right? She's been obsessed with that…_boy_. He's no good and I trust you two have come to the same conclusion no doubt."

Robin gave the Chief a confused look. The Chief cleared his throat. "Mr. Paice, we're not here to discuss your daughter actually. We're here to—."

Suddenly the Mr. Paice grimaced, his elderly features twisting into agony. He let out a loud, drawn out cry. "How dare you! _How dare you_!" He screamed.

"I'm sorry?" The Chief asked.

"You stay away from her! That's my little girl! Mine! You stay away from her!" He got up from his chair and ran at Robin. Surprised Robin caught the man. Mr. Paice screamed again. The door behind them swung open and the nurse ran in with a needle in her hand. She injected it into Mr. Paice's arm easily and within seconds he was slumped in Robins arms unconscious.

"I made it clear there was to be no physical contact. Two minute in the room and this! Hero or not you still must abide to the rules." The nurse snapped.

"The man ran into him." The Chief said grabbing the man and dragging him to the bed. He turned to Robin. "No help there. I don't know why I thought they would. Made no damn sense." He sighed.

"Let's try the next one." Robin suggested. They went to interview three different women who also seemed to live in a fantasy world. One woman insisted that they were co dancers who were preparing for a show. The interview ended when she began screaming about her broken leg despite being in perfect physical condition. They left the hospital.

"Useless." The Chief said taking out a box of cigarettes.

Robin walked with him to his car deep in thought. "Actually, it helped." He said after a while.

"Don't see how."

Robin explained. "Each one didn't seem to be in reality. They're all stuck in their own worlds."

The Chief nodded. "Your point? Not exactly a revelation in a mental bin kid."

"Did you notice at the end of all their pretend worlds there was something tragic that happened? Mr. Paice started screaming about his daughter, the dancer broke her leg, the other woman drowned before she finished the swim across the channel. It seems these people keep experiencing their worst nightmares over and over again." Robin paused and thought for a moment. "Whatever is happening to them, whatever is making them crazy is using their own fears against them. The question is are these memories or just hallucinations?"

The Chief inhaled. "Makes sense as far as those cases go but what about the guy who blew himself up in the park bathroom? That case doesn't seem to fit at all besides him going mad a few minutes before."

"Suicide. His hallucination was too much and someone provided the means for him to stop them. The other guy just so happened to help the wrong person at the wrong time." Robin said.

The Chief sighed. "So, you're thinking there's some lunatic running around making people live there worst nightmare, and so far, just for kicks and giggles?"

Robin nodded and leaned on the police car trying to piece things together. The Chief threw his cigarette on the floor and crushed it under his shoes. He unlocked his car and got in.

The Chief rolled down his window and leaned out, "You know kid, sadly, that doesn't sound too farfetched. People do some horrific things for no reason." He said. "They just like to watch people squirm."

"Yea, well we should see how these people were before they went crazy. Get some background information; before and after as you said." Robin said quietly.

The Chief nodded and rolled up his window. Robin got off the car and walked to his motorcycle, his mind too wrapped up in the possibilities to wave goodbye as the Chief drove off.


	4. Nightmare

**Chapter Four: Nightmare**

Robin snapped out of his reverie as the sound of his communicator went off.

"What's up?"

The same female who had interrupted Beastboy's video game a few days ago appeared on his screen. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders and her expression was grim. She took her glasses of slowly, seeming to contemplate each movement.

"Sorry to have intruded at such a time of night. I hope I didn't wake you." She said.

Robin glanced at his clock and saw it was one in the morning. He shook his head. He hadn't even noticed the time. He must have been sitting on his bed thinking for hours. "You're fine."

"Good. From now on I'll be relaying all information to you." She announced.

"Why? What happened to Officer Thomas?"

She paused for a moment. "You're needed now Robin. I'll send the address to your handheld." With that she disappeared replaced, with a flashing Titan signature background. Two seconds after his handheld went off with coordinated to his destination.

Robin dressed and left to the address.

He arrived to a small house in a peaceful suburban area that rarely saw this much activity. The night's streets were glowing with the trademark blue and red lights of police and ambulance vehicles. People swarmed around the house, snapping pictures, gawking at the home as if it had begun walking, a woman cried hysterically in someone's arms, her agony interrupting the quiet murmurs of gossip. Robin watched memorized as the beautiful blond wailed, sliding down to the floor as she clutched her ribcage, the whole time her cries getting louder, more haunting.

"We have a problem."

Robin snapped around to the sound of the voice. Behind him the Chief was watching the woman as well, his cigarette lit but idly being held in his hand. The Chief's eyes looked empty, circled with the marks of stress and sorrow. His eyes flickered from the woman to Robin briefly then back.

"That there is the wife." The Chief explained. "She had the misfortune of arriving at the scene first. Walk with me, you need to see this."

Robin followed the Chief past the caution tape and into the house. The home was eerily still compared to the commotion outside on its lawn. It seemed to mute the police activity going on inside, as if it was watching, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The décor was simple. Flowers, aged mahogany wood furniture, family pictures placed in random spots. Robin paused to examine one of the photographs.

He saw the woman who was outside smiling up at a face, the shadows of a nearby tree casting her features into a slight shadow. In her arms she held an infant swaddled in pink silk. The man she was looking up at was smiling down at her, his blue eyes sparkling with admiration. Robin swallowed.

"Thomas."

"C'mon kid." The Chief barked from the other room.

Robin lingered at the photo for a second longer before tearing his eyes away and going to where the Chief was. He stood waiting in front of a door. "Ready?"

Robin reached around the Chief and flung the door open. Immediately the restroom park flooded Robin's memory colliding with the new images set before him. He wanted to gasp, to scream, to do something but his body froze, his lungs refusing to draw in air and his heart sped up even though his senses were taking everything in at slow motion.

The scene was laid out before him, from the blood splattered on the princess decorations to the torn teddy bear thrown across the room. Laid on the bed, in a mix of parts and gore were two body's. A father, and a daughter.

"This isn't real." Robin heard himself mumble the words before he realized he had even been thinking them.

The Chief stayed just outside the door, leaning against the wall. "It's as real as it gets. That's Thomas and his seven year old little girl. We found another vile of the same stuff the men in the restroom had consumed. Same conclusions though this time we don't have any witnesses to Thomas going crazy beforehand. We just kind of have to assume, ya know?"

Robin took a step back out of the room but kept staring, some sick need to take in everything taking over his natural instinct to look away. "Why…that's a child."

"Evil has no age limits." The Chief spat out. "This is what we're dealing with. If it wasn't top priority to get this solved, now it is."

* * *

><p>Robin dragged himself through the doors of the Titan Tower, his heart heavy and his mind unable to see anything but the photo he had seen in the house. He jumped at the sound of Ravens voice as he was crossing the living room to the hall.<p>

"A bit early to be up." Raven said keeping her eyes closed. She sat crossed legged, floating in the air in a meditation pose.

"I'd say the same for you." Robin replied. He paused a distance away from her, drawing his face expressionless once more.

"I went to sleep but I kept sensing something dark, something not natural. When I was finally able to sleep I woke up only an hour later to a nightmare." She opened one eye, flashing a purple glance his way.

Robin shrugged. "I'm sorry your nightmares are coming back." He said "I'll see if I can get something for you." He began walking away towards the hall again, dismissing Raven.

"In my dream my father was giving me something to drink, something sickly sweet. I was afraid of him, afraid of what was happening. I knew I was going to die."

Robin froze. "What?"

Raven lowered herself back down to the floor, her gaze set intently on Robin. "You've been in my mind, in my world and vise versa. You're closer to me than anyone Robin and we have a connection. Any intense emotions that you're feeling I feel as well in some form or another. Did you really think you could hide this from me?"

Robin scoffed. "Hide what? There's nothing to tell. I've just been a little stressed."

"Robin." His name came out sharply on her tongue, cutting through him like a knife. He felt her presence standing just inches behind him. "What's going on? I know you've been working on the Sanity Epidemic and don't insult me by denying it. Something happened today—what was it?" Raven reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, pleading with him to share the burden.

Robin took a deep breath, thinking through his options. There was no point in lying to her. She was right, they're connection was far deeper than he could ever explain. Every cut, stab, and pull Robin felt mentally Raven was notified of because of. He knew it was a taxing bond on her. He was fully aware of all the demons and shadows the dark princess had in her own mind. The image of the little girl's blood splattered over the pink sheets sent Robins mind reeling for a brief second, the second after he made his decision. He gently pulled Raven's hand off his shoulder and walked down the hall without a word.


End file.
